HCA’s Sheree McFarland named CHIME CIO of the Year

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) has named Sheree McFarland, chief information officer for HCA Healthcare’s West Florida Division, as its 2025 Digital Health Leader of the Year, recognizing her decades-long career shaping the future of healthcare technology and crisis response.

The award honors digital health leaders who demonstrate “remarkable leadership and a lifetime of achievement in the health IT industry.” McFarland’s nomination was reviewed by a committee of past recipients and approved by CHIME’s Board of Directors.

McFarland’s 30-year tenure in healthcare IT has spanned mergers, divestitures, and countless technology transformations. But her defining moments, she said, have come in crisis.

“The stories that stand out the most are the critical role IT plays during hurricane evacuations,” she told CHIME. “On my 20th anniversary with HCA in 2016, we received a call that one of our hospitals, Bayonet Point, had been hit by lightning and the backup generator had failed. There was a fire on the roof and nearly 300 patients would have to be evacuated.”

That night, McFarland joined HCA’s command center to coordinate communications, IT systems, and staff during the emergency. “In total, 75 ambulances transported patients to multiple HCA hospitals across many counties,” she recalled.

Florida’s frequent natural disasters have tested her team repeatedly. “Events like this usually happen once in a lifetime—not in Florida though,” she said. “In 2022, Hurricane Ian hit Fawcett Hospital, and again, the IT teams were critical in the response and recovery of our hospital that was severely damaged.”

In 2024, two back-to-back hurricanes knocked out power at Largo Medical Center, flooding the IT department under six feet of water. McFarland described how teams worked “collaboratively with administration facilitating communication and helping establish a mobile emergency room in the parking lot.”

“Events like this give you purpose,” she added. “You know your why when you are called upon to help patients, especially in emergencies.”

McFarland has also been named one of the Most Powerful Women in Healthcare IT by Health Data Management for four consecutive years and was honored by the Tampa Bay Business Journal as Business Woman of the Year for Healthcare and CIO of the Year in 2017. Becker’s Hospital Review also included her on its Women to Watch in Health IT and Health System CIOs to Know lists in 2020.

Reflecting on her journey—from her early days at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan to her leadership role at HCA—McFarland emphasized her lifelong mission: “Above all else we are committed to the care and improvement of human life. This is the mission of HCA Healthcare, and we are privileged to serve and live it every day.”